According to the 2024–2025 National Power Supply and Demand Analysis and Forecast Report, China’s total installed power generation capacity is projected to surpass 3.8 billion kilowatts (GW) by the end of 2025.
Source: The Paper
China’s Renewable Energy Law will mark its 20th anniversary in 2025. At a recent event in Beijing celebrating the milestone, Liang Zhipeng, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Laws and Institutional Reform at the National Energy Administration, revealed that China’s top legislative bodies and relevant government agencies are working on revising both the Renewable Energy Law and the Electricity Law. These updates will be guided by the foundational principles set out in the Energy Law, with the goal of enhancing legal frameworks that support renewable energy development.
According to the 2024–2025 National Power Supply and Demand Analysis and Forecast Report, China’s total installed power generation capacity is projected to surpass 3.8 billion kilowatts (GW) by the end of 2025. Of this, 2.3 billion kilowatts will come from non-fossil fuel sources, increasing their share to about 60% of the total capacity. However, some regions are facing growing challenges in integrating renewable energy into the grid, making stronger legislative support crucial.
Sun Youhai, Dean of Tianjin University’s School of Law, played a key role in drafting the Renewable Energy Law while serving as Director of the Legislative Affairs Office of the National People’s Congress Environment and Resources Protection Committee. He emphasized that the revisions should not only institutionalize successful policies but also strengthen legal protections, prevent risks, and encourage further development.
"The most pressing issue in this revision is how to effectively integrate renewable energy into the power system," Sun said. To address this, he suggested accelerating the deployment of distributed generation systems, allowing power suppliers and consumers to establish localized, stable energy supply networks through direct contracts. He also highlighted the need to expand renewable energy applications beyond electricity generation, such as district heating and agricultural use, to create more commercial opportunities. At the policy level, governments should introduce stronger incentives in areas like pricing, taxation, and infrastructure development to support renewable energy companies.
On the demand side, businesses reliant on green electricity are particularly concerned with how the law’s revision will improve access to renewable energy. Yuan Xiaoyang, Director of the Digital Carbon Consulting Institute at Shanghai Post & Telecommunications Design Consulting Institute, noted that data center operators are eager for policies that will eliminate barriers to green power procurement and enable cross-regional energy transfers.
“Shanghai has limited local renewable energy resources, so we need to import green electricity from regions with abundant supply,” Yuan explained. However, current restrictions on cross-provincial electricity purchases limit companies’ ability to buy renewable power. Additionally, international certification bodies, including the EU’s regulatory framework, still impose barriers on recognizing China’s green certificate (REC) system, further complicating access to certified green energy.
To tackle these challenges, the Renewable Energy Law revision should focus on modernizing the power grid, accelerating distributed energy adoption, and formally integrating the green certificate system into legislation. These changes would help shift the industry’s focus from rapid expansion to high-quality, sustainable growth.
Reproduced article do not represent the position of New Energy Era.